Helicopters commonly have movable lights. The direction of the light beam of such movable lights can be altered, for example for exploring the environment of the helicopter. Such movable lights are particularly useful in scenarios where the helicopter pilot or crew wants to search the environment or wants to inspect the landing ground. Common light units have a light head, which includes the light source and is mounted on the distal end of an arm-like structure extending away from the helicopter body. Such light units have a motor for tilting the arm-like structure, provided at the helicopter-near end of the arm-like structure, and a motor for rotating the light head, provided in close proximity to the light head on the arm-like structure. The two motors allow for altering the direction of the light beam of the light source, as desired by the pilot or crew. The structures of such common light units are bulky and heavy. This poses problems when moving the light head, in particular in adverse conditions, such as in icy or windy conditions.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide an exterior helicopter light unit that has an improved movability of the light head. Further, it would be beneficial to provide a method of operating such an exterior helicopter light unit.